Best Smartphone Apps for Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, we understand you want all the help you can get. Patients often ask about the best apps to use to ensure that they make consistent progress. While it’s perfectly possible to achieve weight loss without the help of your phone, our dietitian Nick Wray says apps like these can serve as a useful support structure. Make your smartphone your sidekick in the fight against fat with these weight loss apps.

My Fitness Pal: If you can eat it, there’s nutritional information for it

Free on web, Android, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Windows Phone For an app that encompasses food, water, exercise, and progress, turn to My Fitness Pal. From fast food to home-cooked stir-fries, there is nutritional information available for just about any meal you could dream up. You can also find your friends on the network and keep each other accountable for better results. But what stops many people from using it more regularly is that foods can be somewhat finicky to add in after every meal. It also solely focuses on the calorie, fat, carbohydrate, protein and sodium content of your diet, so if you are after something more holistic, you may prefer another app.Pros: An all-in-one app accessible anywhere.Cons: Calorie-focused.

Free on iPhoneIf you can’t be bothered with precise calorie calculations and prefer to form long-term healthy habits, The Eatery is the app for you. Submitting your meals is as easy as a snap on your phone, and rating its healthiness out of 10. You can connect with your friends and rate each others’ meals, and every week, the app will collate your healthiness for a weekly eating score. Where The Eatery runs into trouble is that everyone’s idea of health is different. A bowl of broccoli and rice with soy sauce might seem innocent to most people, but would best be avoided for someone looking to limit their sodium or carbohydrate intake. This app’s results are best taken with a grain of salt - figuratively, of course.Pros: Quick, easy and holistic.Cons: Health evaluations are subjective.

$4 on iPhone and AndroidCivilisation is on the edge of ruin, and it’s up to you to build a fortress to save the lives of the earth’s last human survivors. As if this isn’t enough, zombies are chasing you - and they’re only getting faster. Now try saying running is boring. This app uses terrifying commentary between your own music tracks to motivate you to keep going as you run either outside or on the treadmill. The more you run, the further you progress in the game as you collect supplies for your safe base.Not ready for long runs? You can still be in on the fun - there’s a beginners’ version with 8 weeks of structured training for even the most sedentary of exercisers. It’s called 5k Training and is $2 on both iPhone and Android.Pros: Uses music from your own library, is super addictive. Cons: Price

Free on iPhone and AndroidTwo video gaming addicts decided they needed to lose weight, so they devised an app that would make fitness fun. With Fitocracy, you can compete against your friends to earn points every time you work out. Its levelled system makes it relevant for everyone from the absolute beginner to the marathon runner - and it also gets you hooked as you try to reach the next level on the app.Pros: Perfect if you struggle with motivation. Cons: Best suited for gym workouts, not outdoor runs or swims.

Free on iPhoneThe Australian government came up with a simple guide to healthy alternative habits for serious slimming. It mixes in lifestyle tips with an activity planner that helps you find easy ways to keep active. You can also plan your shopping list in the app, which will suggest healthier alternatives for foods like white breads and sugary cereals.Pros: Simple to use.Cons: Only on iPhone.